Efficiency and Equality: Twenty Years of Discussion on Spatial Development

Based on three strata of the literature, the evolution and mutual influence are analyzed of the ideas about efficiency and equality in spatial development, including the reflection of these ideas in competing regional-policy concepts from the 1990s to the present day. The first stream of publications captures the debate about the role of space in the era of globalization and revolutionary changes in information transfer. Polarized hypotheses, from the “death of space” to the “tyranny of space,” have stimulated empirical assessments on the impact of distance on the level of economic interactions. These assessments have not confirmed the thesis about a “flat world,” where economic activity is distributed evenly. At the same time, the expert community has become dissatisfied with the results of traditional redistributive regional policies, giving rise to a second stream of literature, i.e., the debate between the proponents of place-neutral and place-based policies. The former policy approach focuses on urban agglomerations as sources of growth while the latter seeks to unlock the underutilized potential of each place. The debate has clarified possible implications of these approaches in terms of achieving efficiency of national economies and reducing regional disparities. Recognizing the value of each place has led to a new requirement, i.e., that for the place-based policy to be place-sensitive. Simultaneously, a similar discussion about the focus areas of spatial development of the Russian economy and the principles of regional policy has been unfolding in the Russian-language segment. The major issues are the spatial concentration of growth in cities and the ways to reduce regional inequality. The main feature of the debate is its focus on the changing versions of spatial development strategies, which are often based on opposing principles.